October 9, 2011

When the press says Al Davis defied the league

When the press says "...defied the league..", what is reality is that Pete Roselle saw Davis as competition, and it was war between the 2 since the merger of the AFL and NFL. Roselle knew Davis was a keen negotiator. Roselle bypassed Davis when Davis was commissioner of the AFL, and did a secret deal with some owners to merge the leagues. This set up a rivalry between the two. Now skip to 1980. Davis had an understanding with the City of Oakland to improve the stadium. Pete Roselle went behind Davis' back again to assure that the City that the league would block the Raiders from leaving the city, and the city could negotiate a sweeter deal with the Raiders. Finding this out, Davis moved the team to L.A.. The press ain't about to tell you about that. Davis finally won the anti-trust lawsuits between the league (Roselle) and the Raiders (Davis). Now skip to the Raiders coming back to Oakland. Oakland promised him a good deal, but screwed the team with exorbitantly priced seating. And then it was Jerry Brown, who was pitted against Davis. Brown refused to negotiate a more realistic deal with the Raiders for lower seat prices. Even today, as the Calif. Guv, Jerry Brown opposes any help with a new stadium for the Raiders and 49's. Both teams play in the worst stadiums in the NFL. Yes, there have been many lawsuits, but that's how big money settles grievances. And Davis was not somebody to shrink away from a fight, and I defy anybody to tell us why he should have been a wilting flower. He stood up for his team like a man, even as the press was trashing him.